> If he returns home, Kore says, he worries he won’t be able to repay the $66,000 in student debt secured by his family’s house. I wish people didn't do this,

> If he returns home, Kore says, he worries he won’t be able to repay the $66,000 in student debt secured by his family’s house. I wish people didn't do this, not any more. Getting a full-time job (even on F1 STEM extension) had been increasingly difficult to get pre-coronavirus, even if you were pretty smart. I've had many employers reject even looking at my application because of potential visa issues, and big cos who can handle the visa process have a very hit-or-miss interview process. And this is just for software jobs; the going gets a lot tougher for people in non-software STEM fields. Unless you can easily afford 2 years of tuition + living expenses and/or get full-ride scholarships, it is time to seriously reconsider going to the US to study. Almost all random events like the virus (and even known, regular events like political elections) are always going to make things even more difficult than they already are.